The present invention is directed to farm implements and, more particularly, to a plugged nozzle warning system for use with a sprayer of a farm implement.
Field sprayers, as known in the art, are typically towed by a tractor or other towing vehicle and include a fluid holding tank supported by a frame and fluidly coupled to a series of spray nozzles equidistantly spaced from one another along booms extending outwardly from the frame. Crop protection fluid, such as pesticides, or liquid fertilizer are dispensed through the spray nozzles onto the farm field and preferably in an even distribution spray patter so that the fluid is applied consistently across the farm field.
When spraying, or otherwise depositing, fluids onto the farm field, it is important that the spray nozzles are unclogged. If one or more of the nozzles is fully, or partially, clogged, the intended fan angle, pattern, and coverage width will be difficult, if not impossible, to attain. For example, if a nozzle is clogged during the application of a pesticide/herbicide (“chemical solution”), within a few days after the application of the chemical solution, strips of weeds, insects, fungi, and the like will appear on the farm field whereas the portions of the farm field that were covered by unplugged nozzles will be substantially free of the weeds, insects, fungi, and the like. Such a situation requires a farmer to reapply chemical solution to portions of the farm filed where weeds subsequently appear using a smaller sprayer such as an ATV-mounted sprayer or a full size, farm implement mounted sprayer that is set up to apply chemical solution to the weeds. This redundant application of chemical solution ultimately results in twice the application of the chemical solution to some portions of the farm field. In addition to the additional chemical solution cost, there will also be additional fuel costs for the tractor to pull the sprayer across the farm field. Moreover, a farmer can lose confidence in the sprayer's ability to effectively apply the chemical solution and may transfer that lack of confidence to other implements manufactured by the sprayer manufacturer.
Conventionally, sprayers have required the farmer to visually inspect the spray nozzles to determine if any spray nozzle of the sprayer is clogged. Visually inspecting the nozzles is particularly difficult for the farmer to do during an active application of the chemical solution. As such, the farmer must either stop the application process periodically and visually inspect the spray nozzles, which adds to the time requirements for the application process, or must assume that the spray nozzles will not become clogged during the application process. In the case of the latter, it is not uncommon for the spray nozzles to become clogged with dirt and/or debris during the application process and therefore assuming that the spray nozzles will not become plugged is unreliable.
Accordingly, a number of sensor-based systems have been developed that notify the operator if one or more spray nozzles has become plugged. Theses sensors typically rely on moving parts that are moved in response to flow through the spray nozzles. While generally effective, the moving parts can degrade from exposure to the chemical solution and ultimately fail, thereby making such sensors unreliable. One proposed sensor measures a fluid frequency through the nozzle. Since different chemical solutions have different frequency responses, the sensors must be calibrated for each chemical solution. As a single sprayer may be used to apply multiple chemical solutions and the sprayer may have several dozen spray nozzles, requiring calibration of the sensor for each spray nozzle is simply not practical.
There is therefore a need for a reliable flow sensor that is workable with different types of chemical solutions.